After the devastating reception of his First, Rachmaninov almost didn’t write a Second Symphony. It took several visits to a hypnotist to get the composer working again – “You will work with great facility” was the phrase often repeated by Dr Nikolai Dahl – but the result was one of the most well-received works of Rachmaninov’s career. Mendelssohn’s life-enhancing concerto, one of the most enchanting pieces of the Romantic era, creates the impression of having been conceived in one miraculous sweep (in fact it took him six years, on and off).